A junior doctors’ strike next week will cause “major disruptions” to hospitals, with a “huge impact” on waiting lists and scheduled care, NHS England’s chief medical officer has warned.
On Monday, March 13, all trusts throughout England begin junior doctors’ work actions, which will last 72 hours – the longest period of continuous strike in recent months.
Nearly 40,000 young doctors voted to strike in the BMA vote.
Professor Sir Stephen Powys, Medical Director of the NHS, said: “The NHS has worked incredibly hard to mitigate the effects of this strike.
“While we are doing our best to avoid delays, there is no doubt that disruptions will be much more severe than before, and patients who have been waiting for a while will experience delays in many areas of treatment.”
He said that if there was a delay, they would try to rebook “as soon as possible” but they “had no choice but to prioritize emergency and emergency care for patient safety reasons.”
“We are asking the public to help us and use 111 online and local services such as doctors’ offices and pharmacies as a first port of call, but of course people should always call 999 for life threatening emergencies,” he added.
Trainee doctors in England rejected the government’s request to cancel the strike at the eleventh hour on the grounds that there was no “credible offer”. Monday morning at 7:00 they walk out the door.
It comes amid the actions of nurses, paramedics and physical therapists who have been in a dispute with employers over wages and benefits in recent months.
NHS England said it will prioritize resources to protect emergency and intensive care, maternity care and, where possible, patients who are waiting the longest for elective care and cancer surgery.
However, he added: “With around 61,000 junior doctors making up half of the medical staff and no national exemptions agreed, the move is expected to result in one of the biggest strike disruptions to NHS services to date and have a huge impact on the movement. shorten waiting lists for planned treatment”.
The BMA said wages for young doctors in England have fallen by 26% in real terms in recent years and they are calling for a full wage restoration. For a young doctor in training, this would mean a wage increase from £14 to £19 an hour.
Health Minister Steve Barclay said Friday night that he had written to junior BMA doctors inviting them to formal salary talks to avoid a strike next week.
He tweeted: “Let’s have a constructive dialogue to make the NHS a better place to work and make sure we give patients the care they need.”
But a group representing BMA junior doctors tweeted: “As a reminder, we had a meeting today and Steve Barclay was out…Without credible negotiations, we have no choice but to strike on Monday and defend our fight to preserve wages.” return”.
Dr. Rob Lawrence and Dr. Vivek Trivedi, BMA Associate Physicians Committee Co-Chair, said: “We are committed to meaningful negotiations on salary reinstatement proposals for junior physicians.
“We have said this many times over the past eight months, but we have so little faith in this government now after ministers have consistently failed to engage in meaningful discussions with us.
“Today we were asked to suspend the strikes, but nothing was answered – no credible offer, nothing to negotiate, no clear understanding of our demands or what left us feeling that we had no other choice but to stop. “.
They also vowed to leave the union if their demand for wages to be restored to 2008 levels is not met when the union’s current six-month strike mandate expires in August.
NHS Suppliers, England’s NHS Trusts affiliate, said they were concerned about a doctors’ strike next week that would take the disease to the “next level”.
In a joint statement with the NHS Confederation, which represents health systems in England, Wales and Northern Ireland, and the Shelford Group, a partnership of ten of England’s largest NHS trusts for teaching and research hospitals, they called on all parties to “justify the damage of recognizing the strike as sufficient and redouble your efforts.” at the start of negotiations.
Sir Julian Hartley, chief executive of NHS Providers, Matthew Taylor, chief executive of the NHS Confederation, and Will Warburton, chief executive of Will Warburton’s Shelford Group said in a statement: “Local NHS leaders are doing their best to mitigate the impact, but are deeply concerned that this will pose a risk to the safety of some patients and significantly slow down progress on key strategic priorities, including closing backlogs.
“As representative bodies of NHS organizations, including trusts and the wider health care system, we understand physicians’ frustration that their salaries have lagged behind inflation in recent years while their workload has increased.
“It is not too late for all parties to recognize the damage the strike will cause and redouble their efforts to negotiate and prevent strikes.
“Patients deserve no less.”
On Thursday, the government said talks with other health workers unions were constructive and would continue until next week.
Four unions – GMB, Unison, Unite and the Chartered Society of Physiotherapy – called off the strike to facilitate ongoing negotiations.
The Royal College of Nursing also averted strikes in early March through collective bargaining with the government.
This was announced by a representative of the Ministry of Health, Welfare and Sports. I: “We have invited the BMA to start a formal remuneration discussion for the current and next fiscal year with new investment in remuneration for physicians and dentists in training.
“As is the case with other health workers unions, all planned strikes must be canceled immediately so that negotiations can begin.
“Although the BMA has not yet accepted this proposal, it remains in effect.”
Source: I News
I’m Raymond Molina, a professional writer and journalist with over 5 years of experience in the media industry. I currently work for 24 News Reporters, where I write for the health section of their news website. In my role, I am responsible for researching and writing stories on current health trends and issues. My articles are often seen as thought-provoking pieces that provide valuable insight into the state of society’s wellbeing.